Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: Waterfloof51 on February 08, 2023, 12:23:17 PM
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Hello Everyone,
This is my first time here and I wanted to try and be fairly brief but have failed dramatically.
During the autumn I started getting what I thought were viruses around the time of my period. Then in late November following my period, all hell seemed to break loose. An inflamed bladder but no infection, inflamed stomach, inability to eat, odd feeling of restriction around stomach and abdomen, a rash appeared briefly in those areas. I also have quite bad insomnia which has been going on for 2 years.
The problems have now morphed into a raft of things that include extreme bloating in stomach and abdomen that is worse lying or sitting down, excessive stomach acid, feeling sick, burning in stomach and shoulder/back, taste of sour milk in my mouth, constipation or diarrhoea. I feel like I’m being poisoned. Night times are often a misery and I can do next to nothing during the day but limp through work. I’ve become incredibly anxious about health and convinced of having something awful, although blood tests and two ultrasounds have been clear. Omiprozol and gaviscon have not worked and a 5 month wait for an endoscopy isn’t helpful. My appetite is better than it was but I can no longer eat a whole range of things that 3 months back were fine and I am losing weight.
I see from previous posts that others have experienced similar issues but perhaps not quite the same - are these symptoms familiar to anyone else? The burning under my shoulder blade is worrying me just now because it’s so odd. I can’t see the only sympathetic doctor at our practice for another month. It would really help to hear from others with similar issues.
Thank you for reading through that ramble of misery.
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Hi, yes absolutely all of the symptoms you describe are related to menopause, I’ve had and still have at times every single symptom you listed , when peri first hit me it was stomach issues that began first which lead to severe health anxiety so bad I became house bound was convinced I had bowel cancer, as one problem eased a bit a new one would show up then more and more got added to my list of symptoms until I had so many symptoms it became overwhelming, over the last few years some things are much better some come and go some never came back , in those early days of peri I had no idea of what was happening to me so I went on anti depressants and it worked wonders and I felt pretty normal I also had CBT , I came off them and remained alright until everything started all over again with the same pattern, I started hrt at this point because I knew why I felt the way I did , since then it’s a pattern of some days are good and some are bad but im so much better than I was hoping the further into menopause I get the less symptoms I will have , but it really is normal for a lot of us to get a huge amount of symptoms I wrote all mine down and I once had 34 different things going on at the same time which of course plays havoc with health anxiety , have you tried anti anxiety meds or hrt ? Hrt hasn’t been a miracle cure for me but it’s definitely helped me to function better, but be reassured that the symptoms you have is common in menopause, I was naive and thought menopause was periods stopping and hot flushes I had no idea of the hell I was entering when peri menopause started , don’t be afraid to ask your doctor for help if you are struggling with anxiety, I really feel for you it’s such a tough time and the constant symptoms really do mess with our minds but what you are experiencing is normal and things do get better, sending you very best wishes and hope you find relief soon xx
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Dear Amazing Grace,
Thank you so much for your very positive response - I feel great relief just reading it. ‘As one symptom went another started’ - absolutely! I had never imagined that this was what it was like - so sudden and catastrophic, it has turned my life upside down in the space of 3 months. I have held off on anxiety meds because I wanted to see if there was some hideous physical thing underlying it first. I think I will ask about HRT though, although have been hesitant there because I believe it can cause stomach issues sometimes? I am totally naive to be honest - if someone told me last October I’d be trawling through menopause forums hoping for some tiny ray of hope, I’d have laughed at them.
Thank you so much again for responding and I’m glad to hear you’ve navigated a path through it all and are managing ok now. X
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You are very welcome, don’t worry too much about hrt causing your stomach issues to get worse, I had bad stomach problems and other than a few stomach cramps now and again i don’t get the severe issues I had before hrt , you never know hrt might just give you the much needed relief you need from all your symptoms honestly don’t be afraid to try it, I was exactly like you and I too would of laughed if someone would of told me I’d be trawling through a forum like this one thing I found was I got so much relief and comfort reading posts by other women and thinking it’s not just me with these crazy symptoms , bless you it’s so tough isn’t it going through all this but thing’s really do get better, keep posting for advice or any questions you have there are so many lovely and helpful ladies on here, you are never alone, take care xx
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Yes, it does seem like there’s a lot of help here and thank you again. I will undoubtedly post more as the saga unfolds. Can I just check again, did you get the symptom of pain and burning below your shoulder blade - or on your back, sort of offset from where the stomach sits. I’ve found this particularly worrying and haven’t seen any other post mention it and googling was a big mistake.....(note the health paranoia still looming). X
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I agree with Amazing grace, the symptoms you describe are very common with menopause and they come up on here all the time.
I've just checked my MM profile and I have been a member for 9 years. In that time, I would say the most common problem with members is Utrogestan intolerance followed by anxiety and depression closely followed by digestive issues and IBS.
Hormones seriously affect the gut and many women experience acid reflux, nausea, IBS D and C, you name it. Then you throw anxiety into the mix and before you know it, you start to imagine everything is the sign of a serious illness, usually cancer. So then it all starts to unravel and it's very difficult for women to know what to focus on first in terms of medication.
Menopause specialists like to start with hormone therapy first which makes sense because 9 times out of 10, the problem is menopausal hormone imbalance of some description. Once hormones are stabilised as much as possible, it's time to address other symptoms that have not responded to HRT and that often results in further medication.
In your situation, my first port of call would be a non oral, transdermal form of HRT and then reassess. It could be than you need an antidepressant too but that can be filtered in later.
I didn't have the severe digestive issues you mentioned but my digestive system improved enormously when I started taking amitriptyline for migraine prevention so it happened quite by accident.
I hope that helps.
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Thank you Mary, it really does help and the more I look, the more posts I see related to digestion. It’s quite right what you say about the anxiety and how everything becomes incredibly hard to unravel. I don’t think I’d realised how quickly and acutely it would/could come on.
I will take your advice regarding a non-oral, transdermal HRT option and see what happens - if I can get to see a doctor some time soon.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond. X
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Hi, yes I did get the burning pain below my shoulder blade I too couldn’t find anyone with a similar problem I saw my gp he sent me for x rays , I also had an mri on my spine and an abdominal ultrasound scan ( I’ve honestly had every test going since peri menopause started) and everything was normal and no cause was found I put it down to being menopausal and anxiety definitely try and avoid google I became obsessed with it and it just fed the anxiety , if you haven’t seen your doctor about the burning pain maybe mention it to them just to reassure you it’s not anything to worry about, I reckon any symptom is possible with menopause but of course it’s important if something is really worrying or troubling you then speak to your doctor, Mary G has given some really good advice too , and I’d definitely agree with her about trying hrt first non oral like she says so patches or gels these cause less side effects than oral I use estrogel , i still get the shoulder blade thing but it’s not very often now and goes away quickly when it does come xx
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It sounds like you’ve been through the mill - or perhaps several mills. It sounds awful being ‘pleased’ you’ve had the same issue but it is a great relief to find someone else who has had all of these things and thank goodness you found a path through them somehow. I will mention it to the doctor anyway - as you say, may as well if it puts my mind at rest. ‘The mind’ seems like a major enemy in all this at times! X
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That’s a perfect way of putting it when you say the mind seems like a major enemy at times , I think that is absolutely true the physical symptoms cause the mind to over think and over analyse everything, which turns into anxiety then the anxiety creates more physical symptoms and round it goes for me the toughest one to get control over was the health anxiety, I’ve kept a journal for years and when I look back I think what the hell was all that about, I’ve still got health anxiety but it’s mild now compared to how it was then, you will find there is a path through this for you too xx
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I agree - I don’t know what’s causing what in the end - the anxiety exacerbating the symptoms or the symptoms ramping up the anxiety. It’s a miserable, perpetual cycle.
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Hi, (I’ve posted this in the wrong section - was meant to be in personal experiences and now can’t move it - sorry)
I’ve posted a week or so back about stomach problems and had some really helpful responses from AmazingGrace and MaryG but I’m posting again because my symptoms are so confusing and anxiety levels through the roof this evening. I can do nothing but worry myself sick.
I know others have had a variety of stomach issues - acid reflux, nausea, stomach pain, excess gas/bloating etc but did these symptoms appear very suddenly? I’ve had them for three months constantly and they came on in a matter of days after a period, with shifting problems - starting with bladder pain then gravitating to extreme stomach problems. The intensity in some symptoms has subsided a little but I can’t eat very much, or any of the food I previously ate and am losing weight. The thing that’s worrying me a lot now is pain and burning in my middle back and left side under ribs. I can’t seem to find any posts that show quite the same symptoms (which is to be expected, I know as we’re not clones!), but especially with folks who are not on hrt and have never been - which is my case. I have bad insomnia and am so tired all day I can’t do anything - I work mainly from home but getting through a whole day is becoming more difficult and I have become a virtual recluse. I do nothing but limp through work, sleeping at lunchtime and finishing early to go back to bed. Then lie awake from 1 or 2am in turmoil. I’m convinced I’ve got all manner of dreadful illnesses. When in a more reasonable state of mind I think it could be a hiatus hernia but that doesn’t explain all the symptoms, the sudden onset of them and the compIete inability to function. I have and endoscopy and ct scan booked thankfully, but getting to those days seems almost impossible at the moment.
Any similar stories or thoughts so very much appreciated.
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U could have continued in your other thread. MayB copy and paste there, then remove most of this thread?
Hormones can affect the digestive tract from top to bottom. I suffer with slow transit. Worse when we are going somewhere, i.e. an appt., or travelling on the Motorway! Starts that awful churning.
I also have deep pain between my ribs with a whoosh of pain into my throat, neck, chin and if lucky, into my head. Nothing down my arms and no sweating. Haven't worked out what it is: sometimes it happens if/not having had a late supper.
Hiatus hernis is common at our age. As oestrogen levels drop so muscles may become lax = aches and pains. Have U tried over the counter indigestion medication, perhaps a Pharmacist can advise?
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Hi CLKD,
Thank you for responding - I’d seen some of your other posts and realised you’d had some horrible times with stomach problems.
I’ve been on omiprozol 40mg and gaviscon advance plus other stuff to stop nausea - none worked so I stopped completely and symptoms no better or worse. I too now have very slow transit (miserable isn’t it!) but have always been prone to that previously.
I have tried to remove this post but it says ‘you can’t remove your own message’. This is typical of me at the moment- cant even manage to post correctly on a forum!
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I am so sorry you are having these symptoms. Have you ever tried Gaviscon? I was wondering if that may give you some relief. I know you are waiting for an endoscopy but are you allowed to take a PPI while you wait? I have a hiatal hernia and cannot manage without Lanzaprazole. My symptoms appeared suddenly. I went to the Dr four times before they would give me an endoscopy and this is when I found out I had a hiatal hernia. I suspect menopause may have brought this on for you as it really seems to affect our digestive system. I take a probiotic and I find this very helpful too. You may like to try taking one.
I have seen many posts about the pain under the ribs and I get this from time to time too. I have never found out the reason.
Are you thinking of trying HRT? That can really help with insomnia and anxiety. I totally understand why you are feeling so anxious. To suddenly have all this come on is horrible and a lot to take in. I feel your symptoms are meno related and the odd thing about meno is it causes all sorts of pains, worries, sleep issues. It can make a person feel they have a chronic illness.
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I found that too ;D. I've replied, don't worry too much. We're all friends here ;-).
Is there a particular time of day when these symptoms are worse/better? My slow transit varies >:( ::) ...........
Apart from VA treatment I don't take HRT.
When we don't get sustenance then our energy levels will drop so stop beating yourself up! Add to that hormonal issues :(
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Hi Waterfloof. I'm pleased you have an endoscopy and scan booked as it's obvious that you are feeling really worried and in lots of discomfort. Do you know how long you have to wait and what instructions have you been given about stopping any digestive medications before the endoscopy? I too have a hiatus hernia diagnosed by endoscopy. My symptoms were reflux, lump in the throat, burning when drinking hot drinks (ulcerated oesophagus) and bloatedness. I know it's really difficult but try not to worry too much as stress does make stomach problems feel much worse.
Taz x
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Thank you Flossieteacake, that’s really helpful about the sudden onset of your symptoms. I’ve been on omiprozol and gaviscon and am currently trying diet only, with some success, but I think will try lanzaprozol depending on the outcome of the tests. I am also considering HRT but have been hesitant after reading some stories indicating it can exacerbate stomach problems sometimes.
To be honest it’s some comfort (although not for you!) just hearing of other’s similar problems. I had absolutely no idea this was possible in menopause - 3 months back I was very active, lots of hobbies and hadn’t ever had more than the odd day off work that I could remember. Now I can’t do anything!
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Thanks again CLKD,
I think the slow transit is partly hormonal for me as it varies through the month and the result of some issues way back. It can be grim if it goes on for days and days (as it is at present) but I have become somewhat accustomed.
Maybe some benevolent moderator will move this topic into the right section! I find making mistakes like this a bit excruciating at the moment. I used to have a brain but it seems to be a pile of rubble at the moment.
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Thank you Flossieteacake, that’s really helpful about the sudden onset of your symptoms. I’ve been on omiprozol and gaviscon and am currently trying diet only, with some success, but I think will try lanzaprozol depending on the outcome of the tests. I am also considering HRT but have been hesitant after reading some stories indicating it can exacerbate stomach problems sometimes.
To be honest it’s some comfort (although not for you!) just hearing of other’s similar problems. I had absolutely no idea this was possible in menopause - 3 months back I was very active, lots of hobbies and hadn’t ever had more than the odd day off work that I could remember. Now I can’t do anything!
I am glad my post was of some comfort. One thing I have found with PPI's is if ever I stopped them all my symptoms came back. I really cannot be without them at all.
I have not heard HRT can worsen digestive issues. I have read of many who have found it helpful for low mood, including me. I understand not everybody wants to try it though. :)
Brain fog is a common meno symtom and a really horrid one. You can report this post and ask it to be moved if you wish to.
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Thanks Taz2,
Sounds a little different for you, I don’t have the ulcerated oesophagus (which must have been horrible). Next week for endoscopy- was originally 5 months but thankfully been brought forward. I’m staying off all medication until the scan and endoscopy is done, just to be sure. I also dont like ‘masking’ symptoms with medication unless I know what the problem is, so i’ll wait and see what happens.
Health anxiety is awful - very debilitating but also makes me feel rather self obsessed!
The support on this forum is so great - a real lifeline.
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You're amongst friends, a lot of self obsessed - we have a thread somewhere ; can't remember the title; something to do with what have we diagnosed today ::)
Have U been offered sedation for the appt.?
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Thanks Taz2,
Sounds a little different for you, I don’t have the ulcerated oesophagus (which must have been horrible). Next week for endoscopy- was originally 5 months but thankfully been brought forward. I’m staying off all medication until the scan and endoscopy is done, just to be sure. I also dont like ‘masking’ symptoms with medication unless I know what the problem is, so i’ll wait and see what happens.
I'm glad you have your appointment soon. The usual advice is to stop all acid reducing medication for two weeks before endoscopy so you've done the correct thing.
Taz x
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Hi
I can sympathise with your symptoms,
I have terrible stomach problems, all came on at the same time as VA (VA under control with Vagifem) stomach probs not unfortunately. All this came on suddenly and 10 years post meno, but I did feel it was related to menopause as it happened at the same time as VA, although it might not be related.
Originally on lanzoprazole 30 for reflux had been on these on and off for about three years, I am currently off them and have been for two months as I didn’t feel they were doing any good.
Symptoms- nausea, acid stomach, gurgling especially on low right side, acid pain under right rib and back sometimes, bowels pretty regular at the moment.
Have had all tests, colonoscopy, endoscopy, bloods, scan, ct scan, nothing accept a little bit of diverticula desease on low left colon. Recently did a York test for food intolerance and it came back red for Cow’s milk, egg white and curry powder!
I agree with the other experienced ladies on this forum that menopause does seem to cause stomach problems for some ladies, I remember my mum having stomach probs in her later life, seems to be just another thing we have to put up with.
I am not on hrt (except Vagifem) and often wondered if it would have helped with stomach issues.
I had sedation for both my procedures, endoscopy was a doddle, that was my biggest fear, apparently it is a four minute procedure - good luck and I hope you get relief soon. Please try not to worry as others have said it definitely makes things worse. When I have a good day and the sun is shinning I nearly forget about my stomach issues, but when you have a real down day it consumes you and I think to my self how dare it ruin my day.
X
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Hi Shellyjayne,
That all sounds pretty grim, and compounded by going on for so long. It’s really helpful to know that other people have had similar things as it eases the anxiety a bit - although not nice for you to have experienced it all. I’m dreading the endoscopy and am only having a local anaesthetic , but hopefully four minutes is manageable. I would like to fast forward a few weeks to know the outcomes as I’m pretty non-functioning at the moment and I can’t tell what’s physical and what’s anxiety. I just can’t believe how quickly and with such severity that everything came on - it seemed like it was triggered by something and then total collapse of normality in a matter of days.
If this really is just menopause, I’ve been totally naive. I’ve not even heard of the symptoms and conditions that people have mentioned. VA - I’m afraid I had to google. It sounds awful - especially added to your other symptoms.
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Sorry I can't help with the issue but you can ask Emma to move the post to the Private Lives forum if you don't want it to be public. Try Report to Moderator if you can't find another way.
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Many are naive, including the medical profession . Anxiety is a physical reaction. How is your diet overall?
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Hi CLKD,
‘Including the medical profession ‘ - yes, I’m sensing that’s the case already! Diet, well 3 months ago my diet was ok but not great - too much fat, coffee, sugar I guess. Since then I seem to be able to eat less and less and am now on largely a sugar, gluten and dairy free diet and can only stomach water. You’d imagine the sudden influx of fruit and veg would have some effect on ‘slow transit’ but apparently not!
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Thanks Sheila, I’ll attempt that now!
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What do you eat, do share. Fats can slow down the bowel however: the body requires sugars, dairy and fats. Others the gut has nothing to work against = slow transit or no poo at all :o
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Ha, food intake - well then, now you’re asking CKLD. The standard day. looks roughly like this....Breakfast; Gluten free porridge and fruit, lunch: salad leaves, beetroot, nuts, evening; gluten free pasta, small amount of sauce, but I’ve skipped the first two meals for several days. There are variants sometimes. Interesting what you say about fats though and helping digestion. I’ve actually spoken to a nutritionist who has given me a whole load of dietary advice around Candida and reducing bad bacteria/increasing good with a much broader range of food than I’ve listed. Just need to make the effort to cook some of it....
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Does the nutritionist sell products :-\.
Why are you missing meals? That will not help your over all body health and if the gut hasn't anything to work on, then there will be a gap. As a recovering anorexic who almost stopped eating = my gut spasms failed, I now have to eat little and often. I am fussy as I enjoy foods for months then suddenly 'go off' i.e. pizza for lunch. Every day for 2 years ..... then YUK!
The body needs fuel to remain healthy. A good regime can aid sleep, bodily healing, stamina, preparing the immune system. I must eat B4 my body requires energy or I get very very nauseous = stop eating. :'(
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Hi CLKD,
I have a friend who is experiencing digestive difficulties now after being extremely ill with anorexia in her 20s - three decades ago. It was her that suggested trying the nutritionist, who she absolutely swears by when going through a patch of digestive problems. I’ve just been too tired to take on board all that was advised and a loss of appetite seems to have crept in to the mix. The nutritionist (a route I would have been rather sceptical about before this) had a lot to say about historical stomach problems and the on-going effects later. I didn’t find there were any mind-blowing revelations as such but it did clarify a couple of things. A lot of emphasis on gut flora problems and inflammation for me personally. Is it something you’ve tried before?
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Morning. I found that when I drank 2 bottles of Actimel daily, my bowel behaviour improved. When we were away on holiday without a fridge and I didn't drink them, my bowel slowed up.
I have also had problems with fizzy drinks as well adding ginger to our meals (well, Hubby is the Chef ;-) ). Causes me to develop an irritating cough by day which is associated with reflux.
Anorexia now strikes when there is upset ........ or I get overwhelmed with anxiety. Someone shouting in the road, nowt to do with us, can set off the 'not being able to eat' habit :-\
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Hi, yes absolutely all of the symptoms you describe are related to menopause, I’ve had and still have at times every single symptom you listed , when peri first hit me it was stomach issues that began first which lead to severe health anxiety so bad I became house bound was convinced I had bowel cancer, as one problem eased a bit a new one would show up then more and more got added to my list of symptoms until I had so many symptoms it became overwhelming, over the last few years some things are much better some come and go some never came back , in those early days of peri I had no idea of what was happening to me so I went on anti depressants and it worked wonders and I felt pretty normal I also had CBT , I came off them and remained alright until everything started all over again with the same pattern, I started hrt at this point because I knew why I felt the way I did , since then it’s a pattern of some days are good and some are bad but im so much better than I was hoping the further into menopause I get the less symptoms I will have , but it really is normal for a lot of us to get a huge amount of symptoms I wrote all mine down and I once had 34 different things going on at the same time which of course plays havoc with health anxiety , have you tried anti anxiety meds or hrt ? Hrt hasn’t been a miracle cure for me but it’s definitely helped me to function better, but be reassured that the symptoms you have is common in menopause, I was naive and thought menopause was periods stopping and hot flushes I had no idea of the hell I was entering when peri menopause started , don’t be afraid to ask your doctor for help if you are struggling with anxiety, I really feel for you it’s such a tough time and the constant symptoms really do mess with our minds but what you are experiencing is normal and things do get better, sending you very best wishes and hope you find relief soon xx
Exactly how I have felt through this too. Such a similar story to mine!
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Morning. I found that when I drank 2 bottles of Actimel daily, my bowel behaviour improved. When we were away on holiday without a fridge and I didn't drink them, my bowel slowed up.
I have also had problems with fizzy drinks as well adding ginger to our meals (well, Hubby is the Chef ;-) ). Causes me to develop an irritating cough by day which is associated with reflux.
Anorexia now strikes when there is upset ........ or I get overwhelmed with anxiety. Someone shouting in the road, nowt to do with us, can set off the 'not being able to eat' habit :-\
It takes a while to realise what food is actually the problem, and it sometimes seems quite random - you’d have thought ginger would be beneficial!
Sorry to hear you’re still experiencing the anorexia lurking beneath the surface and waiting to be triggered. It can’t help when such a huge focus has to be diet and what you eat all the time because of all the issues.
Something else I tried that I’d never have even contemplated 3 months ago is guided sleep meditation (it was a desperate times, desperate measures scenario!) - I found one that focuses specifically on digestion and found it really useful - talks about the link between physical digestion and processing emotions etc. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E-zRahZjK-g&t=334s. Might not be for everyone but I’d been getting up and walking around the street about 4 times every night going crazy with insomnia and stomach acid problems - on night one of listening to this, I stopped doing it and although still not sleeping, far less agitated and acid reduced.